Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Lofrumento.
Hi Brian, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I talk about my story up to this point, I most often start with the summer when I was 19 years old and decided to start a soccer blog just for fun. Little did I imagine that by junior year of college it would grow into one of the most read soccer websites in the world (with 3.5 million readers per month), I’d be managing a team of 20 writers while sitting in my dorm room, I’d be interviewing some of the biggest names in the world of soccer, and I’d be growing a business – not just a blog – that taught me a lot about entrepreneurship.
Fast forward to graduation and I launched a marketing agency that year to help other companies achieve the things I did with my soccer blog. I did really well with that – growing it to six-figures in the first year despite having no idea how to operate an agency when I first started – but got burned out after a few years of client-based work. But, through those experiences what I really realized was how much I love business: growing my own businesses and also helping other businesses grow.
All of that led to me sitting down and putting all of my experiences and lessons into my first book: “Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur.” I didn’t have high hopes (or any hopes at all, really!) with the book, but I started waking up to emails from complete strangers telling me how the book gave them the push they needed to actually take the entrepreneurial leap. After a year of those emails and notes from strangers asking how they could get more, I launched the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast. Now, more than eight years later, we’re a 5 times per week show, one of the top 1.5% of all podcasts on the planet, a Top 200 Business & Marketing podcast, and we’re closing in on Episode 1,000.
During that journey I’ve moved from Boston to Los Angeles and now to Tampa, which along the way has continued to give me fresh energy, perspectives, and insights into people, business, and so much more. It also has led to so many other unexpected opportunities, such as investing in other companies, launching and growing brands along the way (one of which I sold in 2022), and right now focusing on launching a foundation to help other entrepreneurs start and grow.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I always joke that any time you tune in to a podcast episode everything sounds so polished and linear. Of course, the reality is that all of our paths involve failures, pivots, unexpected challenges, and hidden opportunities, and mine has been no different. For example, when I was running my soccer blog, a reader had sent me a picture of an unreleased jersey and I published it on my website, prompting the multinational apparel company to issue me a takedown notice and legal threats. I was a college kid who didn’t know what to do, so I just published everything their team sent me, asking our fans to rally behind the site in support of fan-driven content as opposed to these corporations who are out of touch with everyday fans. The BBC ended up picking up that story, giving us our first big inflection point of traffic and attention.
With my marketing agency I faced burnout for the first time in my life, which felt like a huge failure when my business partner and I decided to shut down our agency, but those lessons and reflections taught me a lot about scale and the operational side of a business, and it’s those very lessons that changed the way I approach business. And, it was that push that brought me back to my true love of serving people en masse, which ultimately led to my first book and the launch of my podcast, which cumulatively have helped over a million entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses.
Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also face the same problem that we all face in any journey: consistency! En route to hitting Episode 1,000, I’ve experienced my own highs and lows of consistency, sometimes with life getting in the way, sometimes with a loss of focus and momentum, and sometimes with that looming threat of burnout right around the corner. What everything else taught me up to this point, though, is to first be aware of these struggles, and then always to ride them. That’s why I love the quote “you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast?
The Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast is one of the top 1.5% of all podcasts in the world, with five new episodes every week focusing on the strategies, tactics, tools, and mindset shifts that it takes to launch and grow a successful business. We’re consistently ranked as one of the Top 200 Business & Marketing shows in the top charts, and we interview entrepreneurs in a raw and unfiltered format, with authentic conversations that cut through the generic business advice and go deep into what it takes to actually succeed. Listeners have come to know and love that no two conversations are the same; our interviews are entirely unscripted, and nothing is off topic with our guests. Instead, what you’ll find is just real insights, lessons, and perspectives from entrepreneurs of all levels, from 7- and 8-figure business owners all the way to entrepreneurs in their first year of business who are figuring it out as they go (just like the rest of us!).
Most business content leaves you with more questions than answers. I remember when I was 19 and started my first business, I constantly felt like I was missing a “secret” strategy or tip that all the successful entrepreneurs knew, so I consumed every book, YouTube video, and podcast episode out there, only to hear the same things over and over. That’s why on the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast I’m so grateful for how transparent our guests are. We’re open about how they make money, what their strategies are, and what led to their lessons and realizations. I like to view these conversations as your chance to eavesdrop on the real stuff that entrepreneurs talk about amongst themselves, and every episode includes at least one actionable strategy, tactic, insight, or mindset shift that can help anyone move forward with their own business.
What I’m most proud of is that we’ve built something that elevates entrepreneurs in every possible way. Our listeners get valuable insights into how to grow their own businesses, we’re able to give a global stage and platform to our amazing guests who are all generous and brilliant entrepreneurs in their own right, and we’ve been able to prove for almost a decade now that a rising tide really does lift all boats. The average podcast fails to ever reach Episode 50, and we’re on the verge of 1,000 episodes, and I’m proud of the team that we’ve assembled, the processes we’ve built to make a 5x per week show possible, and the impact that we’ve had on entrepreneurs of all levels in over 150 countries.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’ll never forget hearing Naomi Tutu speak at my older brother’s graduation ceremony in 2007, even though I was just a high schooler at the time. She pointed to the graduates and made it clear that today we don’t celebrate only them, but instead we celebrate everyone who got them there: friends, family, teachers, coaches, and even the people who built the school. She made it clear that day that no one is “self made,” and it stuck with me through all these years.
So, I’ve got a lot of people that I’m incredibly grateful for along the way. Of course, having an incredibly supportive family has been super important for me. In a world where we’re “supposed to” do certain things like go to school and get a job, my parents in particular have always encouraged me to chase whatever dreams I’ve had along the way without any of the doubts or discouragement that too many entrepreneurs face (because we already have enough of those on our own!).
On top of that, I’ve had so many mentors and peers along the way that have been generous about sharing their own successes, strategies, failures, and lessons, which have accelerated my own journey. Because I started my first business when I was 19, I didn’t fully grasp the concept of “competition,” so I found myself networking with, collaborating with, and learning from my competitors from the very beginning, and those “competitors” have turned into some of my closest entrepreneurial friendships and most valuable soundboards.
The one thing that they all have in common is an abundance mindset, because that’s the very essence of one of my favorite principles that “a rising tide lifts all boats.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thewantrepreneurshow.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imetbrian
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlofrumento/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLofrumento
